Li Dian POV

She did not finish her sentence but I could get what she was trying to say from her eyes.

Was that really the only possibility? Did Guan Yu start having notions of breaking away from Xinye since then?

“That means that even though Guan Yu carried everyone’s hopes and led the raid, she had already grown tired of the in-fighting back then.” I posited.

“And then when she saw her troops get ambushed, she lost hope in defending Xinye huh…” Cao Ren added on.

“That is not impossible.” I nodded, “And besides, Guan Yu herself might not have wanted to lead a raid on Fan city as a warrior wishes to do battle in an open and fair manner above all.”

Cao Ren nodded as well. Looks like this is it. Guan Yu’s defection might be genuine.

Liu Bei’s death, defeat, letting Lu Xiang go, and the letter. There is a very smooth and logical flow to all of these.

“U… Umm…” Just then, a weak voice could be heard and when I looked over, I realised that Shen Pei was there.

“Ah, we forgot about you.”

“We were too engrossed in our own discussions.”

Cao Ren and I gave excuses and apologised to Shen Pei. But really, it was as if her existence was extinguished since a while ago. If she had not spoken up persistently, we would likely have never remembered that she was here.

“That’s fine, that’s fine.” Shen Pei frantically shook her head and frowned, “I just have no idea what you both have been talking about since a while ago.”

Ah, yes. It’s time to pa.s.s it to her.

“Ah, it’s this.” Cao Ren said as she shot me a glance. Naturally, I understood what dhe meant and handed the letter to Shen Pei.

“This is?” Shen Pei asked before she opened it.

“A letter from Guan Yu’s subordinate which we just received.”

“Oh?” Shen Pei uttered in surprise and looked at us before opening the letter. Cao Ren and I remained silent as Shen Pei read the letter. On the surface, it seems like she was not surprised by the contents and merely muttered an ‘eh~~’ from time to time. Though it should be read as surprise, it felt a bit off to me.

“Un, I understand the gist of things now.” Shen Pei said as she folded the letter and looked at us. She seems a lot more calm and collected and must have began her breathing exercise while she was reading the letter, “What this letter is saying is that Guan Yu will defect with 2 other generals right?”

“Yes, that’s what it’s about.”

“Their troops will also be defecting with them.”

Shen Pei calmly put down the letter and raised her hand to ask us to wait as she began breathing in deeply. When we saw her do her usual routine, we merely sat and waited quietly for her,

*s.h.i.+ku*~ Hu… After about 5-6 times, she finally opened her eyes.

“Are you done?” Cao Ren asked when she saw this.

“Un, I’m done.” Shen Pei said as she picked up the letter and got up before walking over to our side, “Well then, how many troops do the 3 of them command?”

“6,000. Give or take.” Cao Ren said.

“Un…” Shen Pei grunted as she rubbed her face with her sleeves. This is probably another habitual action she does when she is thinking.

“So…” I could guess what she was thinking about and decided to ask, “Is Lord Shen Pei suspicious of their motives? That they might be faking a defection.”

“…” Shen Pe

i remained silent until she came to my side and faced me, “To put it simply, yes. Defecting at this time is a little too suspicious.”

“Really?” I asked as I exchanged glances with Cao Ren, “Lord Shen Pei should have heard what we just discussed. Based on those points, it seems to be sufficient proof that their defection is sincere and genuine.”

“I did hear what you both said but that’s just circ.u.mstantial evidence for a hypothesis of yours that cannot be proven.” Shen Pei cut me down ruthlessly and continued rather anxiously, “What is key here is not to look at what is not suspicious but to look at what is suspicious.”

Look at… What is suspicious?

“Umm, if you can, I hope you can explain what you just said.” Cao Ren said as she sat upright, as did I, as she waited for Shen Pei’s explanation.

“That’s easy.” Shen Pei said with raised eyebrows as she looked at the letter and then raised her head to look at us, “Because the enemy chose to defect at the time when we need generals to do so the most.”

Wu… I still do not understand what she means.

“Ah,” Cao Ren exclaimed softly.

“Now that you mention it…” Cao Rem said as she began to gesture with her hands, “If one wants to defect, one would do so only when the main body of our southern campaign is here. Defecting now is equivalent to inviting us to take the city.”

Ah, so that’s what she means. I finally understood what Shen Pei meant. The timing is too perfect, it’s obvious that we will siege the city if we accept their defections. And that was indeed what Cao Ren and I were thinking about. If their defections were fake, then we would definitely be annihilated from within and without when we sieged the city.

“But… This might be because Guan Yu and the rest wish to earn some merits by doing so now.” Cao Ren continued as she leaned forward, “It is because they know that their troops will be vital for us that they have chosen to come now. When they help us take Xinye city, they will earn merits as well.”

“Un, that is indeed possible.”

“A warrior like Guan Yu would not pursue such things.” I denied Cao Ren’s words but then added on, “But we are talking about 3 people here. There is Zhang Liao and that Chen Gong who might be after t.i.tles, merits and officialdom.”

Back when we tried to persuade Zhang Liao, these were the ‘carrots’ we used after all. If it worked, then she might have begun to consider such things after the battle.

“In any case, we do not have enough information and I do not recommend acting now.” Shen Pei concluded while Cao Ren and I were still thinking. When she finished, she picked up the letter and pondered for a moment before she continued, “This might be a little despicable but the best use of this letter is to send it back to the city.”

When she finished, Shen Pei looked at us. Judging from her expression, she seems to think that this is a good idea. It is indeed a good idea but we cannot do this.

Cao Ren and I looked at each other with the mission that our lord gave us back then in mind.

We need to capture as many generals as we can. If we send this letter back, a good number of precious, capable individuals will likely perish. Even I think that it’s a great waste, especially when they can serve my lord.

“No, I don’t think that’s right.” I do not think I managed to transmit my thoughts to Cao Ren as she is undoubtedly more hung up about my lord than I am, “If we do that, the world will shower us with ridicule.”

“Even Lord Yuan Shao will not find this palatable.” I added on.

Shen Pei’s eyebrows jumped when she saw this and put the letter aside as she shrugged, “I was just proposing it and did not intend on actually following through with it.” She paused and sank into thought but immediately got the answer she wanted and spoke up, “How about this? We do not have enough information so let’s test the waters.”

“What do you mean?”

“They say they want to defect right?” Shen Pei said as she flipped the letter and pointed at a line on it, “Then let’s ask them over for a chat.”

“Eh?” Cao Ren uttered in surprise, “Ask them over huh…”

“Yes.” Shen Pei said as she grabbed a brush and began writing on the back of the letter, “We’ll get them to come over and personally examine their motivations to see if their intention to defect is genuine.”

“And if they are not…” I asked.

Shen Pei looked up, “if they are not…”

Halfway through, Shen Pei let out a long sigh and when we looked over, we found that her demeanor had weakened. Looks like she reverted to her normal state.

“Ah… Umm… In that case…” She became weak yet again, “In that case, we can just kill them on the spot~” She said as she made a slicing motion at her neck and smiled wryly.

I have to say that the aura she has right now is more evil than it was before.

But what she proposed is a good idea.

“Then what if they don’t come?”

“If they don’t come, then we’ll take it that this letter never existed.” I said, “That would mean that their resolve is lacking.”

Of course, this is a.s.suming they genuinely wish to defect.